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Vowels and other letters sounds
There are twenty-eight letters in the Arabic alphabet. These are almost all consonants, as the vowel sounds (such as a or u) are shown by signs called harakat above or below the letters. Arabic letters are written slightly differently when they are joined together in the word, depending on whether they are at the beginning or in the middle or at the end of a word.
Three harakat are used to show vowel sounds:
ََFatha (a short line above the letter ) this gives an a sound, as in man
ُDamma (a small waw, و above the letter) this gives an oo sound, as in soot
ِِ ِKasra (a short line below the letter) this gives a i sound, as in sit
There are two more harakat :
o
Sukoon ( a small circle above the letter) shows that there is no vowel sound
ّ Shadda (a small “w” shape above the letter ) shows that the letter is stressedّ
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